Cue the Peat Pots

A few days of warmer temps and naturally the mind turns to thoughts of Spring.

Out come the peat pots:

Truth be told I was playing around with upholstery webbing.  After doing a few book bundles I got the idea to dress up the pots.

They will make great little displays for the five million (give or take) chalk tags I've been stamping.

Some get a touch of the seaside instead of a stamp.  I knew there was a reason I saved those!

A little burlap, a little twine, a little sea, and a little bit of French (on the books) makes for some fun, non?!

Linking to:

Wow Us Wednesday

Open House Party

Thrifty Thursday
Feathered Nest

Saturday Finds and Vintage Marketplace News

Fun morning at the 20th Century Cincinnati show.  I found myself uttering the somewhat foreign phrase, "How much for all of them?" a few times which resulted in this:

A delicious tray full of woodblock letters and almost a dozen pyrex labware pieces.

So much fun digging through and finding the most interesting bits.  My favorite might just be the British Pound symbol.  It pretty much screams KEEPER!

In other, equally delicious news, I am officially a vendor at The Vintage Marketplace Springfield Extravaganza.  Oh my excitement knows no bounds.  It promises to be an amazing time filled with incomparable junque!  And I won't be alone mind you.  The super fabulous, beyond talented and all around super amazing Pam of Frippery will be sharing a space with me.  Get there early because I may attempt to scoop up all her amazing creations before the rest of the world!

If you haven't done your research yet head over to the Vintage Marketplace blog where they kindly posted a vendor blurb about yours truly.  Make sure to follow along and keep updated with more seller profiles and show events. 

Additionally, take a moment to follow their Facebook page and see what's happening - as it happens!

Interested in being a vendor?  Jon says spacing are filling up fast so you've got to hurry and join us for the fun.  Message Jon so he can get you a contract and we can all junque together.

Keep checking in folks.  Much fun awaits and we'll even be putting together a show giveaway as we get closer. 

Anyone up for a Buckeye Bloggers meet in my booth?!!!!!

Linking to:

More the Merrier

Knick of Time

Be Inspired

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
Show It Off

Ah, The Weekend

Things I am looking forward to this weekend:

Happily devouring these two magazines and making the keyring with the Princess.  A lag in my subscription means that two issues arrived on the same day.  So much goodness - so little time.

Happily cleaning, sorting and pricing my fun thrift store finds from last night.

Oh hello you spotty vintage Mikasa pitcher.  I do love you so.

Greetings to you previously buried French prints which were hoarding hiding in my garage.  It's been so long since I've seen you I must confess I forgot you existed.  Further greetings to you fun spotty bar glasses which ever so fortuitously fit the opening of some bed spring projects I've got lying around!

Tomorrow we will make my yearly visit of joy to the 20th Century Cincinnati show where I will happily drool and dream of lovely mid century pieces making their way home with me.  Of course I only ever pick up my Heywood Wakefield pieces at garage sales...

Yes, fun lies in store although its commencement was somewhat marred by the emergency visit to the dentist after Princess fell on the playground.  Cracked adult teeth mean I will also spend the weekend watching to see if they begin to wither.  Wish I could find some junque teeth at a yard sale to work some magic on!!!

Wishing you a weekend of merriment.



Elevating The Ordinary

I've been deep in thought lately about what I do.  What we in this community of junque do.

I've had a fair bit of time to do this what with sick kids who aren't sleeping, two plus hour dental appointments (where sadly I failed to fall asleep during the laughing gas and thus consciously endured the drilling, drilling, drilling...), numerous planning thoughts running through my mind, etc.

I think I nailed it the other day as I set up a quick photo shoot:

Things were looking flat and I grabbed this postal scale off the mantel for some height.

"Elevate the ordinary".

Isn't that what we are doing?  Highlighting the humble.  Respecting the cast offs.  Call it recycling, upcycling, reuse. 

Whatever you call it aren't we just looking at something and finding the beauty?  Finding a way to showcase it.  Pare it down to its essential "goodness".

I've read that everything looks better under a cloche.  I suppose that is because the glass is almost a magnifier so we can focus in on the beauty. 

The beauty of cheesy glass hurricanes turned upside down and made into cloches.  Or counter laminate samples made into stamped chalk tags.

We junkers are all about seeing past the ugly to the good bones inside.  Then we twist, shape and manipulate as necessary to make those bones shine through.  In the process we put a bit of ourselves in there and that is uniquely beautiful.

Just a little pondering as I continue learning to "fly".

Linking to:

Knick of Time
Wow Us Wednesday
Share the Love
Show It Off

Vintage Marketplace Rides Again

Have you all heard the super news?  Remember when I babbled on incessantly about The Vintage Marketplace earlier this month?

Well it's coming to my neck of the woods in May.  That's right.  Come May, the Springfield Extravaganza will feature a Vintage Marketplace as well.

WOO HOO!!!!!!!  Long have I waited for a show like this in my section of Ohio.  A mere hour up the road.  Awesome.

How awesome? Check out some photos from the TN Vintage Marketplace:

Time Worn Interiors

Time Worn Interiors: the file box that had to come home avec moi

Murphy Antiques

Gathered Comforts

Gathered Comforts

Gathered Comforts

Just a few glimpses of what was a super fun experience.

May is shaping up to be a month of super junque.  I'll be at the Rural Antique Society show early in the month and come Extravaganza time I'm hoping to have a space in the Vintage Marketplace tent.

Lots of fun and junque on the horizon.  Check back for more info and please take a moment to visit the Vintage Marketplace .  Want to be a vendor?  Head over to the blog and shoot Jon an e-mail.

You'll find details on the show as it comes together, vendor bios and so much more.

Junque on peeps!

Musical Lamps

Remember that "fun" school game staple of musical chairs.  A game designed to selectively weed out child by child till only one remains?  Well today I played the grown up version - musical lamps (please note that no lamps were injured in this game although one has gotten hurt feelings over its impending fate!).

A thrift trip produced this on Monday:

Lovely vintage Italian alabaster lamp.  Working - check.  Needs harp - have one hanging in the basement stash (doesn't everyone have a stash of lamp parts in their basement?).  Needs shade - well I did buy two shades last Friday at Ballard when trying to outfit the super cool tripod lamp that my husband transformed for me.  Surely I'll get home and the shade will look bad.  Oh hello, I was so wrong on that score.

This is the thought process my brain goes through as I stand in the aisle like a somewhat delusional crazy lady.  Thoughts continue with, "I'll just sell it.  Someone will buy the base.  I have to rescue it."  On and on it goes until I finally put the thing in the cart and continue on my psycho way.

Once home the harp fit and the shade was awesome.  Well we need another lamp like...I need more junque.  Thus begins the dance and our game of musical lamps commences.

We start with my current bedside lamp:

Pretty marble base vintage glass lamp with thrifted shade.  Take this lamp and move it to my daughter's room which has:

A less cool vintage glass lamp with thrifted shade.  We've been meaning to raid our stash of lamp parts and make this one better but, well, you know the drill.  And yes, that is a plastic Hello Kitty teacup alarm clock.  Not vintage so not very cute.  She's almost 7 - we have to give her some say!!!!  Nor did I ever really like the shade but she LOVED the beads and this is real life where we have to acknowledge that not everything is perfectly "sculpted" for the optimum vignette.

So this lamp is now headed for the parts bin or the junque to sell stash and my bedroom lamp looks like this:

Thus concludes our game of musical lamps.  For now.  Possibly only for today in the event that I find another one at the thrift tomorrow.

Am I the only one who plays musical lamps, chairs, furniture?!!!!

Linking to:

Wow Us Wednesday

Share the Love
Open House Party

A Vintage Valentine

From me to you!

Wishing you a very sweet day full of vintage goodness!!!